Eurogamer.net points to Eurogamer Denmark where there's a rumor that Bethesda Softworks is currently developing the fifth installment in their Elder Scrolls series of role-playing games. They have a translation of the report from Eurogamer Denmark editor-in-chief Kristian West, who offers an English version of the report, though this doesn't provide much clarity on their source for the rumor. "This source not only confirmed that the game is in current production, but also spoke briefly about the content - with fantasy-sounding phrases like Dragon Lord, something with The Blades - and that voice acting for the characters in the game is currently happening in the weeks to follow," goes the translation. "The same source confirmed, with official game documents in hand, that this will be the chronological sequel to what happened in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, which is the latest game in the now 16-years-old Elder Scrolls saga and by itself one of the better RPGs for PC and consoles."

Agreed, Borderlands isn't even remotely an RPG. There are no real customization paths when you can have everything you want and most characters play the same. Just slapping stats and levels onto something doesn't automatically make it an RPG except to the console crowd who think Call of Duty is an RPG.

Simply put, the best way to do those is asynchronously - which means something more like Borderlands or any number of MMOs.

Yup, and I'll argue to my death that Borderlands, which is just FPS Diablo, isn't an RPG.I'd probably like to make that argument for MMORPGs, too, saying they're just chat rooms with intricate avatars for people with furry fetishes, but whatever.

If your only choice is what to do when, which has no impact on the game in even a tiny way, and the emphasis is mostly on combat, completion or item collection, it might not be an RPG.

Jerykk wrote on Nov 23, 2010, 23:14:Co-op is conducive to dungeon crawling more than role-playing. After all, it's hard to offer meaningful choice and consequence when you have to accommodate 4 different players.

This is true. Anyone who tried to get six people together to play Baldur's Gate (1 or 2) on the LAN understood just how much of a chore conversations were, and how frustrating it was to have someone else in control of the conversations. Simply put, the best way to do those is asynchronously - which means something more like Borderlands or any number of MMOs.

Some of the whining on the New Vegas forum (aside from bug gripes) has to do with people not liking the lack of stuff to do outside of metropolitan centers. They have some legitimate gripes - there really isn't much to do in the wasteland. That certainly fits the concept of a WASTEland, but it makes the game feel empty.

Um, there are about a bazillion quests that require you to venture out into the wasteland and do stuff. I'm not sure I really understand the problem here. There are also lots of caves and buildings and random shacks to find.

CoOp RPGs don't have to be watered down. AD&D was built around the concept of CoOp RPGs.

Co-op is conducive to dungeon crawling more than role-playing. After all, it's hard to offer meaningful choice and consequence when you have to accommodate 4 different players.

MMORPGs, in may way, are, too. Sure, the tech behind them isn't, but the quests tend to be, the mechanics tend to be, the RPG elements definitely are, and they have no problem with a server having 1500 chosen ones.

MMOG is the closest we will get to RPG COOP for a while due to costs and technology but there is also the action/RPG COOP as in Diablo 3 coming up.

The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.That is easy.All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger.It works the same way in any country.

I like both "old school" RPGs and action-RPGs (or modern RPGs or whatever you want to call them) equally well.

I don't know where the idea that RPG players only want one kind of RPG came from but it doesn't describe reality.

Some of the whining on the New Vegas forum (aside from bug gripes) has to do with people not liking the lack of stuff to do outside of metropolitan centers. They have some legitimate gripes - there really isn't much to do in the wasteland. That certainly fits the concept of a WASTEland, but it makes the game feel empty.

CoOp RPGs don't have to be watered down. AD&D was built around the concept of CoOp RPGs.

Beamer said, "Which is why I think comparing games to books and movies isn't accurate, and why I think calling games "art" isn't quite right. They have strong artistic merit, but "art" is timeless. Most video games are not. I don't want to derail this topic, so no one needs to refute this right now. It's my personal feeling. I know most here disagree."

To each his own. I think there are a bunch of games out there that are timeless; maybe not necessarily works of art but timeless -for me- sure.

For instance, recently I booted up The Magic Candle. Not only did I like the simplistic pixel art - but the world, story and simple mechanics are still really fun and neat to play. It's one of the few games where it is actually necessary to split up your party <"You much gather your party before venturing forth">. You may have needed to train a class at a certain school and they would have to stay there. If you ran out of food, someone would be not willing to move forward, you'd either have to trade/give some food to that individual to eat or camp and have someone go hunting and another watch over the rest of the group.

Moreso, a game like Planescape: Torment I believe should be considered timeless. Even without mods to get 800X600 resolution - the story is so well done, the amount of choice in dialogue so impressive that it will always be a great game if you're focused enough on the actual gameplay and not it's graphics.

A game like Amnesia I could see myself going back to now and again into the future. Every once in a while I'll go back and replay Thief or Thief 2, Deus Ex or SS2. Maybe even Half-life or Quake 2 (which I actually like more these days than I did when it was released, I love the way the models look now). My best multiplayer experiences ever after Quake CTF, were in Quake 2 CTF; but those dreams seem to be gone.

The game Alpha Centauri will never bore me - it generates a new world every single time and depth of the gameplay is still not matched IMO (I definitely think it's still better than CIV IV or V). Which is one of the reasons the Diablo series is still played and why Minecraft rocks; but which is a mechanic used in 4X space games to a dull effect.

Dungeon Keeper is another one that wasn't perfect but it was so original, innovative & fun that I can always go back to that and have a blast, I feel the same towards Syndicate.

And definitely, let's not forget that we are quick approaching a time when a game could be considered a work of art. Games like Braid and a couple other independent titles have only foreshadowed a day when a game is released that really is an artform masterpiece for gaming and maybe some believe we already have a couple (Space Giraffe, anyone?). Who knows, Dwarf Fortress might be a masterpiece of art and gameplay and I just do not have the patience to understand it?